Conor O'Neill
Let's face it: this has been a fantastic season of college basketball. There have been plenty of major upsets, surprises, disappointments, an Ivy League team ranked in the top 25, everything. And we haven't even reached the conference tournament championships.
This seems relevant today after last night's two big games. And no, one of those is not the UConn women's team winning their 65th consecutive game. I'm talking about the UConn men, those in the midst of a terrible mid-season slide, defeating Villanova 84-75, IN PHILLY. This is the same UConn team that lost to Cincinnati on Saturday, a game that hall-of-fame coach Jim Calhoun deemed the worst game in his historic tenure at UConn.
While it was a challenge for the second game, Kansas at Texas A&M, to match the level of play from the earlier game, this game exceeded UConn's win. This was a game in which neither team ever had a lead above double digits, and came down to the final minutes. A&M held a 52-48 lead with 6:30 minutes left, and the fans in College Station could feel the upset. But Kansas proved its rank, even if the Jayhawks were outplayed for the first 35 minutes of the game. Kansas held the Aggies to two points over the last 6:30 minutes of the game, and had just enough offensive firepower to pull out the win.
These games, along with Pitt's upset of WVU, Rutgers beating Georgetown, Wake Forest's win at Georgia Tech and Louisville's victory over Syracuse in the Carrier Dome, shows how balanced college basketball has been this season. Any team has a chance of knocking off a ranked opponent, and recently every game has been played with a tournament feel. There is not a team similar to last year's North Carolina; that is, a team that seemingly will not lose, and even when it loses, it still feels like they played better than the other team.
Kansas has a record of 25-1, yes. At times, it seems like they could beat some of the lower ranking teams in the NBA. But they certainly have their flaws. A&M gave them a great game last night, and if it hadn't been for the disappearance of the Aggies' offense in the last part of the game, they would still be partying in College Station. Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins were held in check, the Morris twins were in foul trouble and Xavier Henry has struggled mightily in the Big 12. This is a great team, but I'd have my doubts that they would be able to win 6 games in a row in the tournament.
The No. 2 is Kentucky, by default. They are the only other one-loss team in the country. As is the case with any John Calipari team, these guys have issues. It seems like star freshman John Wall hates Calipari, and you could say the feeling is mutual when the coach says he hopes Wall isn't back next year (I'm not buying that Calipari thinks his game can't improve; 4.1 turnovers/game won't cut it in the NBA). Depending on the day of the week, Calipari might think his team is championship-bound or headed for a one-and-done in the tournament.
Ranked third is Villanova, a team that shouldn't take too much heat for losing to the Huskies. This is a balanced, athletic team, which can score in bunches. And they have Scottie Reynolds, who should be the Big East Player of the Year. I'll admit that I was at the forefront of calling him a 'gunner,' a name I thought he deserved when he was scoring 21 points and shooting 8-25 from the field. But his game has radically changed, and I'll be the first to admit that.
So who is the best team in college basketball? Obviously, Kansas has to be the answer. But more importantly, which team will be standing on centercourt when that cheesy 'One Shining Moment' song is playing? You can form your own opinions, but I'll take Jim Boeheim's team at Syracuse. For me, it's Go Orange! for the rest of the season.